Citroen C4 vs Lexus LS

What's the difference?

It’s weird, wonderful and fun, in more ways that one. I think every segment could use an oddball alternative like the C4. Citroen has successfully transformed it from a hatch to a small SUV with a difference. It’s not going to be for everyone – few Citroens are – but those who are willing to take a chance will be rewarded with a surprisingly competitive little package that stands apart from the crowd.

The LS500 is the least logical version of the most logical option in the ultimate luxury sedan segment in which logic doesn’t often apply at all. 

Take from that what you will, but if it was me being driven around I would definitely be opting for the hybrid version of the LS instead for its smooth electrified driving characteristics and lower operating costs.

It’s really hard to stand out in Australia’s busy marketplace, especially in this small SUV space, where there doesn’t really seem to be as much of a design rulebook as there is in other segments.

Rooflines are wildly different, as are beltines and light profiles. While some may decry the fall of the hatchback to these more high-riding options, at least some of them are bringing fresh design ideas to the car world.

Our C4 is a great example. An SUV perhaps in profile only, it sports a slinky descending roofline, tall, contoured bonnet, a frowny-face LED profile, and characterful plastic claddings, which are a continuation of Citroen’s ‘Airbump’ elements, which gave cars like the previous-generation C4 Cactus such a unique look.

The rear is this car’s most confronting angle, with a post-modern approach to the light profile, and in reference to C4s past, a spoiler integrated into the rear tailgate.

It looks cool, contemporary, and I think is successful in its aim to blend the sporty elements from the hatch world with the sought-after high-riding elements of an SUV.

It certainly caught a few eyeballs in my time with it, and if nothing else, a bit of attention is something the Citroen brand desperately needs.

In the past you could rely on this brand to give you a funky interior, but one that sadly also came with its fair share of sub-par plastics and strange ergonomic. So I’m pleased to report that the new C4 dips into the better looking and feeling Stellantis parts catalogue for a still interesting yet more coherent experience this time around.

The modern look and feel of this car continues with interesting seat designs, a high-riding dash with a higher degree of digitization than before, and improved ergonomic features (even over some notable Peugeots). We’ll talk more about those in the practicality section, but the C4 feels as weird and different from behind the wheel as you’d hope , with an odd dash profile, a fun and minimalist steering yoke, and attention-to-detail elements, like a detail strip that runs through the door trims and across the seats.

These elements are welcome and help separate this Citroen from its Peugeot siblings. It will need this going forward, as it also now shares much of its switchgear and screens with its sister brand.

This is largely a good thing, with the 10-inch screen looking and feeling good and slotting into this car’s design nicely.

The distinctive but conservative style of Lexus is on full show across the LS’s massive frame. Like other cars in its class, it’s very much the image of the brand itself with styling points strong, but to me not as impressive as the LC500, which is a definitive expression of the brand.

The LS also has many styling points of the previous-generation Lexus design language which are in the process of being phased out.

The car was only updated last year, bringing with it a more recent interpretation of the brand’s big spindle grille, pointy headlight profile, and angular but traditional rear.

The LS - even in this Sports Luxury guise - does look quite menacing from certain angles. The width and stance of this car is accentuated by its curvaceous rear guards and big square front bumper, with the elegance of a classic three-box sedan maintained in a side profile.

The chrome wheel finish is a bit much for my taste, but there’s no doubt they’re real show pieces. They’d better be, too, because I hear they are incredibly expensive should you need to replace one.

The inside has highs and lows but it’s the place where you can most tell the LS has been on sale for a while.

I love the plush seats, big screen, integrated analogue clock and three-dimensional door card design, which sell the flagship luxury feel.

But this car’s age is on show with its clunky and much maligned 'Remote Touch' pad controller (which Lexus is at long last phasing out in its new cars), last-generation software suite, and its small, crowded instrument cluster.

There are a whopping nine interior trim combinations to choose from and ours has the most recently added black leather and ‘Nishijin Haku’ themed highlights which are meant to be inspired by the way "moonlight sits on an open sea".

The feel is a bit '90s, a rough textured fabric with a silver detailing and elements clad in a thin platinum foil, making you feel like you’re in a classic high-class Japanese taxi.

But I’ll admit it plays well with the ambient lighting effect in the doors, and is a unique selling point compared to the standard leather finish.

The C4 brings some interesting practicality elements. There are a few areas where it’s even better than the improved layouts of recent Peugeot models.

The cabin feels spacious, with the C4’s relatively long wheelbase providing ample room in both rows. Adjustability is good for the driver, although it is worth noting that the seats have an odd blend of manual adjust for sliding fore and aft, contrasted with electrical adjust for seat height and tilt.

Comfort is superb from the memory-foam stuffed and thick synthetic-leather-clad seats. I don’t know why more cars don’t adopt this approach to seat design. You sink into these seats and are left feeling like you’re floating above the ground rather than sitting on something. The feeling here is unmatched in the small SUV space.

The massage function is a wholly unnecessary addition, and with the thick seat cladding, it didn’t really add much to the experience.

The seat bases aren’t too high either, unlike some cars in the SUV class, but the dash design itself is very tall, so people shorter than my 182cm height might find extra adjustment is required to see over the bonnet.

There are large bottle holders in each door with a very small bin; dual cupholders in the centre console, and a small armrest console box.

There’s also an odd little two-tiered shelf under the climate unit, with a removable base for extra storage underneath. It seems to me that the top shelf is a missed opportunity to place a wireless charger, although connectivity is handy with the choice of USB-C or USB 2.0 to connect to the wired phone mirroring.

A big win is the presence of a full dial set for not just volume but the climate unit too. This is something the Citroen scores over some of the new Peugeots, which have moved the climate functions to the screen.

Somewhat less wonderful are the digital dash cluster and holographic head-up display. These seem to be a bit redundant in the information they display to the driver, and the digital dash has no customisation, leaving me wondering what the point of it is.

The C4 also has some interesting innovations on the front passenger side. It has an unusually large glovebox and a neat little sliding tray, which looks like something from a Bond car.

It also has a slide-out tablet holder. This odd little thing lets you securely mount a tablet to the dash to provide a multimedia solution for the front passenger, which may be good for entertaining larger kids on longer journeys. Or adults who don't want to talk to the driver. It’s a neat inclusion, but I’m not sure how many people will use it in the real world.

The back seat offers a remarkable amount of room. I’m 182cm tall and had heaps of knee room behind my own driving position. The nice seat trims continue, as does the patternwork and detailing, which is the kind of attention to detail you don’t always get from rivals.

Headroom is a little limited, but you also score dual adjustable air vents and a single USB port.

The boot comes in at a hatch-sized 380-litres (VDA). It’s a neat, square shape with no little cutaways at the sides and is just big enough to fit our full CarsGuide demo luggage set, but leaves no room to spare. The C4 features a space-saver spare wheel under the floor.

For passengers, as you’d expect, the LS is stellar. The massive outboard rear seats offer plenty of room, and are complete with reclining, message, and cooling functions.

Adjustable vents feature, with quad-zone climate, and the screens come with individual headphone jacks and HDMI-in so you can bring with you all sorts of entertainment options for those longer journeys.

Other suitable additions worth noting include the wine cooler (although it’s a bit small for anything other than minibar-sized beverages, hardly the 007 trope of rolling out a full-size bottle of Bollinger), flip-down mirror with a light in the roof, and the touch panel controls in the armrest. I also appreciate the built-in sunshades. Nice touch.

Less impressive is the general vibe of the middle seat. With a large raised centre split in the floor and such wide and lavish outboard seats, the middle seat feels a bit forgotten.

Up front, the practicality offering includes a high level of adjustability for the seats to suit a wide range of driving positions, electrical adjust even for the steering column, and a nice wide seat which you simply sink into.

Of course, soft finishes adorn even unseen parts of the cabin so you’ll never touch a nasty hard plastic, and there are large storage areas in both the doors and centre console box.

This big armrest console also hides the USB connectivity within, and there’s a set of big cup holders with a flip-away lid if you want the wood grain design uninterrupted when they are not in use.

I have to mention the useless touchpad controller here, but hand the brand props for offering a collection of climate shortcut buttons on the dash, an actual volume knob, and truth be told you don’t need the touchpad anyway because the screen is touch. Just be ready for the matching last-generation software, which isn’t the best to use or navigate.

The boot has a volume of 440 litres which sounds plentiful, but the actual use of it is a reminder of one of the reasons SUVs are so popular.

Yes, it’s big and reasonably deep, but putting the largest CarsGuide case in there proved a bit clumsy as you have to lift it over the tall rear bumper and it only just clears the top of the relatively small opening.

I love sedans, but this is one area where you can see the benefit of a hatch opening, particularly if you were frequently doing the airport run.

The Lexus LS is it, the flagship sedan in the Japanese premium outfit’s line-up. It’s available in two trim levels, either the borderline aggressive F-Sport or plush Sports Luxury.

It’s also available with two drivetrain choices, with no price difference between them. The F-Sport starts from $195,953, before on-roads, while the one we’re testing here, the Sport Luxury starts from $201,078.

This pricing is below par for big luxury sedans designed to be ridden in rather than driven, making it a relatively good-value proposition straight out of the gate.

The entry-level Mercedes-Benz S-Class (the S450) starts from $243,890, the single version of the BMW 7 Series (740i M Sport) starts from $268,900, leaving only the Audi A8 (50TDI) even close when it comes to pricing, which starts from $202,700. We don’t get its Korean rival, the Genesis G90 in Australia yet.

‘Value’ or not, the LS has its work cut out for it, as this particular corner of the executive transport marketplace is probably more about badge cred than it is logic, and the 500 Sports Luxury is at a further disadvantage, as it doesn’t offer the Lexus unique selling point, a silky smooth hybrid system.

Ask yourself, when it comes down to it, if money was no object would you rather have a Grand Seiko or a Rolex?

Again, logic doesn’t apply, but the Lexus does offer pretty much everything buyers in this class should be after.

Inclusions on every LS are 20-inch alloy wheels, adaptive LED headlights, 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and built-in navigation, a 23-speaker Mark Levinson branded audio system, climate control with interesting ‘infra-red body temperature sensors’, heated and cooled front seats with 28-way power adjust, a heated steering wheel, full four-door keyless entry with push-button start, ambient interior lighting, a panoramic view camera, electric motion-sensing boot, radar cruise, and connected services.

Just to remind you this Sport Luxury grade is the one to be driven in, not drive yourself, unlike the F-Sport alternative it scores dual 11.6-inch rear seat entertainment touch panels with HDMI input, full quad-zone climate, power reclining for the rear outboard seats with message functions, a drop-down armrest console with a climate control panel, electric sunshades for the rear three windows, a cooler box, seat ventilation, and two additional airbags for the rear seats. Proper plush. Wish it came with a driver, too.

Things you miss out on for picking this one? Not much, the F-Sport scores a more aggressive dash, an 'LFA-Style' cluster, bolstered front seats, sport steering wheel, variable gear ratio steering with rear steering, high performance brakes, and active stabilisers.

The C4’s single trim level has a single engine, and it’s a good one; a peppy 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo.

It appears elsewhere in the Stellantis catalogue and has been refreshed for the 2022 model year with a new turbo and other small refinements. In the C4 it produces 114kW/240Nm and drives the front wheels via an Aisin-sourced eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

No dual-clutches or CVTs to be found here. This sounds good to me, but is it good to drive? You’ll have to read on to find out.

The LS500 packs a 3.4-litre twin-turbocharged V6 petrol engine with impressive peak outputs of 310kW/600Nm.

This engine is designed to replace a V8 in terms of its power and feel, and in a lot of ways it does.

It might surprise you to learn the only other place you’ll see this engine used in Australia is the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series.

The alternative present in the LS500h is a hybrid version of the same engine, sans the turbos.

With its electric assistance, power outputs are lower than this turbo version, but get close with a combined total of 264kW.

While I like the walloping nature of the turbocharged V6 we drove, I think the hybrid is a no-brainer choice for reasons explained in the driving segment.

Despite the little turbocharged engine and the abundance of ratios in that transmission, the Citroen C4 disappointed me a little bit when it came to real-world consumption.

The official/combined consumption sounds reasonable at just 6.1L/100km, but after a week of driving in what I would consider realistic combined conditions my car returned 8.4L/100km.

While it’s not terrible in the wider context of small SUVs (a segment that is still packed with naturally aspirated 2.0-litre engines), it could be better.

The C4 also needs at least mid-shelf 95RON unleaded fuel and has a 50-litre fuel tank.

Given the angry sounds emanating from under the bonnet of this LS every time I put my foot on the accelerator, I was surprised to find overall fuel consumption for the week was surprisingly good.

I used the LS to drive mostly around town, and yet it beat its own urban claim of 14.2L/100km, settling at 12.9L.100km, closer to the combined fuel figure of 10L/100km.

The hybrid is said to nearly halve this consumption, and I’m inclined to believe it based on previous experience with Toyota/Lexus hybrid systems. 

The LS500 requires at least 95RON unleaded fuel and has an 82-litre fuel tank. That means you're looking at a range of around 635km, using our real-world figure.

Driving the C4 is an interesting experience because it approaches the road a little differently from most of its rivals.

It really leans into Citroen’s newfound comfort-focused niche with the seating and suspension. This results in an overall experience that is a bit unique in the market, and quite pleasant, too.

The ride really is quite good. It’s not a fully hydraulic system but has dual-stage dampers that essentially smooth out corrugations and much of the nasty stuff that comes into contact with the tyres.

It’s odd because you can hear the big alloys crashing about on the road, but ultimately you feel little of it in the cabin. What’s more impressive is Citroen has managed to imbue the C4 with this floating-on-the-road feeling, while maintaining enough of a ‘real’ driving position to make it feel like you’re sitting in the car and not on it.

The overall result is impressive. The comfort extends to the seats, as mentioned, which really do still feel floaty and supportive even after hours on the road. It also extends to the steering, which has a very light tune. This is a bit unsettling at first, as it feels like it has a large dead-zone in the centre, but it is also speed dependent, so once you’re cruising it regains a significant amount of feel. You can also manually bring back a bit of firmness by setting this car to its Sport drive mode, which is unusually good.

This means you can have an ease of operation in tight quarters while maintaining enough feel to make it fun to drive when you need to ask more of it. Clever.

Speaking of fun, the revised 1.2-litre three-pot is a hoot. It has a distant but entertaining gruff tone under pressure, and surges forward with just enough urgency to not leave you really wanting for power.

It’s not what I would call quick, but it has a raucous attitude paired with a well-behaved torque converter auto to make it truly entertaining. When you push it, there’s a moment of turbo lag followed by a lump of torque, which the transmission lets you ride out before decisively snapping into the next gear. I like it.

Again, it's not quick, but it punches just enough above its weight to leave you with a smile when you stick your boot in. To have that in a car otherwise so focused on comfort is an unexpected pleasure.

The dash cluster could use some work, as could visibility out of the cabin. The small aperture out the rear and tall dash line could leave some drivers feeling a bit claustrophobic. While the engine is fun to engage with, the turbo lag could potentially be a source for annoyance at times, too.

Brief negatives aside, I think the C4's drive experience really brings something unique, fun, and comfortable to the small SUV space.

For a seemingly very sophisticated car, there’s something decidedly unsophisticated about the way the LS500 feels from behind the wheel.

Immediately, it feels nowhere near as cutting edge or even as special as something like the LC500, which to me becomes the truest expression of everything Lexus.

No, the LS500 in this turbo V6 guise feels a little bit too old-fashioned. It’s quiet and under acceleration feels like a V8 of just a few years ago, but the Aisin-sourced traditional torque converter automatic transmission is, dare I say, ordinary, lacking the finesse of its German rivals. It’s a problem which is easily solved. Pick the hybrid.

Elsewhere the experience is decidedly Lexus. If you’ve driven even an IS the experience is very familiar in the LS. The touchpoints all match, the steering is light and smooth with a healthy serve of electrical assistance, and, for the most part, the ride is as floaty and comfortable as you’d expect.

I say ‘for the most part’ because there are limits to what the LS’s adjustable-height air suspension will filter out on the enormous 20-inch wheels, complete with run-flat tyres.

Small bumps and potholes are dispatched with ease. Anything too large which passes a certain thud-factor will definitely be communicated to the cabin, though, making for a strange all-or-nothing ride quality.

It is impeccably silent inside, though. The engine is distant, even under load, and tyre noise is virtually non-existent thanks to specially designed alloy wheels with hollow chambers designed to minimise this effect. Now that’s more like what I expect from a Lexus.

It handles very well for such a big unit, making it at least decent to drive for the few buyers who will actually take the helm themselves.

This is no land yacht, it’s a surprisingly agile and adept machine when faced with a bit of blacktop. And it's here where the turbocharged V6 comes into its own compared to the hybrid, offering superior driver engagement.

This Sports Luxury version of the LS500 has everything and then some. The usual key highlights are included: high-speed radar based auto emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection as well as intersection assist and fully adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, rear auto braking, traffic sign assist, adaptive headlights, and a panoramic parking camera.

Specific to the Sports Luxury is two additional rear airbags for a total of 12. Despite this thorough suite of equipment, the LS has not been tested by ANCAP.

Ownership has always been a tough topic for unusual Euros like the C4, and that seems to continue here. While Citroen offers a competitive five-year and unlimited-kilometre warranty for all its new products, it’s the service costs that will hurt the most.

While most Japanese and Korean brands are competing to really keep these numbers down, the C4’s average yearly cost, according to the provided schedule, comes in at an average of $497 for the first five years. That’s nearly double the cost of Toyota’s C-HR!

The C4 Shine will need to see a service centre once a year or every 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Lexus offers a five-year and unlimited kilometre warranty, and LX buyers get three years of complimentary membership to the brand’s ‘Encore Platinum’ owner experience, which includes three years of capped price servicing, free loan cars at the time of service, invites to events, discounts on fuel at Ampol outlets, and four uses of ‘Lexus On Demand’ which lets owners swap into another Lexus model for up to eight days at a time, as well as eight free uses of valet parking at certain locations.

Servicing on the LS occurs once every 12 months or 15,000km and is fixed for the first three years at $595. Very cheap for the space it plays in.